


The Adventures of James Tyler

by Hawkerin



Series: Family Timelines [4]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-06
Updated: 2015-11-24
Packaged: 2018-03-29 07:33:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 4,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3887647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hawkerin/pseuds/Hawkerin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One shots of the missing years in James' life. Some from his childhood and some from his travels with River. No particular order, mainly from prompts</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Coliseum

**Prompt: Image of tourists visiting the Coliseum. Jamie is quite young, probably 5 or 6.**

  
"It looked quite a bit different, the last time I was here," the Doctor announced.  
  
"I don't even know why you wanted to come back here. From what you told me, this place was gruesome," Rose replied.  
  
"Well, no genies causing trouble this time, and Jamie hasn't seen the Coliseum yet. Nothing to worry about, love," he assured her and wrapped an arm over the shoulders of both his wife and his son.  
  
"Couldn't we visit it while it was still in use? What's the point of a time machine if we have to see everything along with the tourists?" their little, freckle-faced son inquired.  
  
"Maybe when you're older, sweetheart. No need for you to see that much blood right now," Rose cringed.

 


	2. Purple Flowers

**Prompt: Image of a dim sun or very bright moon over a glade of large purple flowers, seen through a canopy of trees. During the time James and River travelled after he finished university.**  
  
James and River had been travelling together for a few months. He was learning more about her all the time. Not details of her past or his future, but things about her personality and intelligence. They had to work together as a team on their adventures and he was getting better at anticipating what she could contribute.  
  
Today, they had explored the forests of an unnamed planet and now, they were camping on the edge of a glade filled with fragrant, purple flowers. The larger of the planet's suns had set a few hours ago, but the smaller, more distant star was still low in the sky. It was too bright to compare it to moonlight, but far too dim to call it daylight. Instead, it cast an eerie glow over the flowers before them.  
  
"I asked dad once if he ever got bored of travelling," James commented.  
  
"And? Does the almighty Doctor ever tire of the wonders of the universe? I would think after nearly a thousand years, he might have seen enough," River responded.  
  
"Mum said that he told her once that the day he had seen everything, he might as well stop. He just smiled at her and didn't really answer me. He's good at avoiding difficult questions. I hope that I don't get tired of this," James told her.  
  
"Well, if we do, I'm sure we'll find a way to stir up some excitement," River teased and bumped her shoulder against his.  
  
James laughed at that. "Do you think that's why he's such a troublemaker sometimes? Just to keep things interesting?" he wondered.  
  
"Maybe that's the question that you should have asked in the first place," River replied and settled her head on his shoulder to get some rest.

 


	3. Ending a War

**Prompt: Image of a war torn planet, soldiers looking at the sky, spaceship visible in the sky. During the time that James and River travelled together after university.**  
  
James fussed with the settings on his vortex manipulator. He was anxious to get away from this planet, now that the fighting seemed to be over. He and River had been there for weeks now, trying to help the rebels overthrow the dictatorship. They had been at war for decades and the loss of life over that time was heart wrenching. It was time for the fighting to end.  
  
James wasn't particularly proud of the way that end came about. His parents would have wanted there to be talking and peace treaties. Instead, he and River had made their way into the heart of the Emperor's ship and sabotaged the engines so that they would explode before it reached orbit. It brought an end to the war, but it wasn't the way he had been taught to do things.  
  
"Penny for your thoughts," River interrupted his musings.  
  
"Did we do the right thing, River?" he asked quietly. "I don't think mum and dad would be very happy with me right now."  
  
"James, he had been given a multitude of chances to stop the war. One last warning from you wouldn't have changed it," River told him.  
  
"It still doesn't feel right."  
  
"Instead of thinking about one ship full of soldiers, let's think about an entire planet of mothers and orphans. And about the teenagers that were needed to join the troops in defending them. The fighting can stop now. That's thanks to you," she reassured him and laced their fingers together.  
  
"Yeah. I'm starting to understand why dad always has that dark cloud of guilt hanging over him all the time. No matter how much mum and I would reassure him that things weren't his fault and he had saved everyone, it would always be there. I feel like I'm starting to develop one of those clouds myself," James admitted.  
  
"When you live long enough, everything piles up. The bad, yes. But also the good. Don't you dare forget about that. You don't know about it all yet, James, but my life started out with so much bad and you helped me to see that it didn't have to stay that way. That I could make a difference in a good way. And you haven't done that for me yet, so don't you dare go forgetting already," River said adamantly.  
  
"Alright. But let's get out of here, eh?" She nodded and placed her hand over his vortex manipulator before they disappeared from the war torn planet in a flash of light.

 

 

 


	4. The Beach

**Prompt: Image of a rocky beach at sunset with a bright, purple sky. During the time that he took River travelling after “Let's Kill Hitler.” Just after “The Big Bang” for the others.**

 

“That's beautiful, James,” River sighed as they walked down the beach together.

 

They were both dressed in their swimsuits, but James had put an oxford on with his trunks and River had added a wrap skirt over her hips. The sky was a brilliant shade of purple this evening and James remembered it well. He came here on this exact evening, with his parents and Amy and Rory. It was years ago for him and he had left the couples to enjoy the sunset while he went off on his own. He had felt like a fifth wheel to the couples and decided to get some reading done back inside the TARDIS.

 

His parents had mentioned though that he would enjoy this sunset with River, so today was the day that he would follow through with that.

 

“We're meeting a few people here,” he told her with a smirk.

 

“Really? You want to share a sunset like that?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

 

“With you? Anytime, but my parents mentioned that I came here with you when we visited years ago. We've got to meet them, because we already did,” he replied and pulled her further down the beach.

 

They saw the two couples sitting on some drift wood as they watched the sunset. James wrapped an arm around River's shoulder as they strolled down the beach toward them. He considered how young this River was compared to all the other times they had spent together, but decided that he didn't care. He loved her, no matter when she was.

 

“Hello,” James greeted once they were close to the others.

 

“Jamie? I thought you were going back to the TARDIS?” Rose questioned.

 

“Ah, well, past me did go back to the TARDIS. But this really was a spectacular sunset. You and dad got to share it. Amy and Rory got to share it. I wanted a chance to share it with my... my River,” James told his mother, still not quite sure how to refer to the woman that was so out of sync with him.

 

“Quite right. Grab a seat,” the Doctor announced with a smile and his parents shifted over a bit to make room. “Dare I ask...?”

 

“Spoilers,” James and River answered together and laughed.


	5. The Ocean

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Image of a beach covered in palm trees, shallow, bright blue water and a clear, sunny sky. Set during their two years travelling together after James' graduation.

 

River was sunbathing on a blanket while James dove into the cool water of the ocean again. The bright white sand made it difficult to watch her closely from the water, but he decided that it would be best to save staring at her for a time when they were closer to running parallel in their timelines. She wasn't his wife yet. At least, not for him. He was her husband... for her, but not ... oh, this was giving him a headache.

 

He dove under the cool water again and engaged his respiratory bypass. Maybe the chill water would ease his mind a little. He closed his eyes and allowed the water currents to push him around a little. He almost gasped a mouthful of water when he suddenly felt River pull him into an underwater hug. He wasn't sure how she was managing to hold her breath so long, but he wasn't about to complain. He smiled brightly at her and swam off in a game of chase. River nearly kept up and they played underwater tag for quite a while.

 

They finally tumbled back onto River's blanket some time later, laughing breathlessly.

 

“I'm not going to ask how you managed to stay underwater so long, because I know you won't tell me. But I have to ask you because it was bothering me earlier. How do you think of me? Because you're not my wife to me, but you are my wife to you and all that,” James questioned.

 

“You told me once, and I guess I agree which is why I'm sharing it and you'll tell me later,” she began with a laugh. “Not to worry about what titles apply at any point in time, just enjoy the time we have together.”

 

“Sounds like a plan. Now, shall we build ourselves some shelter here on the beach or teleport ourselves to a resort somewhere?” James responded with a smile.


	6. Camping with Jack

**Prompt: Image of a man lying on a blanket with a red backpack under his head, tent in the distance, ground is all dirt. Man has taken off a pair of boots that are sitting beside him, untied. James is about 9 yrs old and travelling with his Uncle Jack.**

 

“Come on, Uncle Jack!” Jamie shouted from the top of a nearby hill. “We haven't explored everywhere yet!”

 

“No can do, Jamie,” Jack called back to the young man who was still bouncing with energy. Jack had collapsed at their camp site after hiking for 3 hours. Keeping up with the young Time Lord was impossible, even for his immortal uncle.

 

James trudged back to the pile of blankets that was his own, near Jack's and flopped down with a sigh. Jack heard him grumble something about humans as he rummaged through his bag, presumably looking for some gadget to tinker with while he waited for Jack to rest.

 

“Look, Jamie, if you'd rather have someone that can keep up with you twenty-four/seven, we can always call your dad,” Jack informed him, keeping his eyes covered from the sunlight with his arm.

 

“No! No, it's fine. I've got something to work on,” he answered quickly. “Can we find an amusement park next?”

 

“Sure thing, kiddo. Just give your poor old uncle a little time to recover first, ok? Neither of us has slept in a few days,” Jack replied.

 

“Oh alright. Honestly, you're as bad as mum sometimes,” Jamie complained.

 

“Hey, no bad mouthing your mother. Rosie is the reason I'm still around at all, you know,” Jack told him.

 

“I've heard the story from mum and dad, but I wouldn't mind hearing your side of it, if you don't mind?” Jamie asked curiously.

 

“Sure, kid. Let's see, I suppose it started when I woke up in a white room with two androids and a defabricator...”


	7. Flood Waters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: image of heavy rain falling very close to the camera. Setting is during the two years that James and River travelled together after university for James.

James was well and truly stuck at the moment. Chained to the wall of the cell, his sonic was sitting on the table outside of the bars. The guards had long since fled when the flood waters started rising and he was now submerged up to his waist. He could last quite a while under the water with his respiratory bypass, but it wouldn't do him any good if he still didn't have a way to get out of this mess.

 

He thanked every deity that he didn't believe in when River splashed into the room outside of the cell. “River! I'm in here!” he shouted desperately.

 

“Honestly, you get into more trouble, James,” she chastised.

 

“My sonic is on the table,” he told her as he nodded towards it. “A little help, please?”

 

She picked up the device and used it expertly to open the cell and then release the chains holding him. Without thinking, James pulled her into a fierce kiss and hugged her tightly. She returned the gesture eagerly and broke the kiss with a gasp. “We'd best get out of here, yeah?” River suggested, handing him his vortex manipulator, having found it on the table next to his sonic.

 

“Yeah, I'm thinking somewhere warm. What do you think?” he asked with a broad smile.

 

“Sounds perfect,” she agreed and grasped the device, keeping an arm wrapped around his waist.

 

In a flash, they materialized on the sunny streets of Barcelona (the planet) where they had begun their journey together. “Time for some chips, I think,” she told her.

 

They smiled happily as they walked down the streets, hand in hand, ignoring the odd glances they received from their clothes dripping water behind them.


	8. Kids' Expo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor and Rose take a six year old Jamie to visit a festival in Ontario, where they meet... well, me. Written for the facebook group fanfiction fanatics 400 member challenge.

They had landed in a beautiful city. It seemed much cleaner and more peaceful than the urban sprawl that Rose had grown up in. There were trees and flowers planted everywhere despite the tall buildings that indicated that they were in a busy downtown area. The Doctor teased them when he told them they were in London, but met their skepticism with an explanation that it was London, Ontario, Canada rather than London, England.

 

They strolled into a beautiful park and saw that there was a festival going on. There were families everywhere, strolling through the rows of tents where people were selling food, toys, clothing and trinkets. The signs told them that the festival was called Kids' Expo and decided that it was perfect for their little family and six year old son. There were musicians playing in the band shell, but Jamie's attention had been drawn to the colourful tent nearby that featured pictures of balloon animals and face painting.

 

Jamie felt a surge of apprehension from his father and he immediately fell back to hide behind his mum. Anything that had the Doctor worried, had to be something to fear, but Rose urged him back towards the woman wearing a red nose and bright teal overalls. The clown had a big, yellow name tag that said, 'Perry Noia' and matched the name printed on the tent. She had noticed him running back to his mother and dropped down to one knee as she smiled at him shyly. Perry pulled a bag of something from one of her many pockets and waved him over to see what it was.

 

Jamie walked carefully, tugging his mother's hand to come with him as protection. Rose joined the clown in kneeling down to Jamie's level and it almost felt like the rest of the festival wasn't allowed into their private conversation.

 

“Hello! Would you like a sticker?” Perry asked him, searching through the bag for one she thought he would like. “I've got Spider-Man, Cars, Winnie the Pooh... what do you think?”

 

“Do you have any space ships?” Jamie questioned quietly from behind his mother.

 

“You know, I don't think I do, but I do have one of the aliens from Toy Story. How about that?” she suggested and showed him a sparkly sticker with a green, three-eyed alien.

 

“Ok,” he replied and reached over to take the offering carefully.

 

“Would you like to have your face painted, Jamie?” his mother asked.

 

He nodded enthusiastically and pointed to a colourful dragon picture that he wanted on his face. Perry Noia chatted with him happily and complimented his British accent the whole time she was painting him with a bright purple dragon. The Doctor was studying the ingredients on the bottom of one of the face paint containers and scanning them discretely with his sonic to be sure it wasn't some kind of trick, but determined that everything was perfectly safe. He had to dig deeply into his transdimensional pockets to find the purple bill that was needed to pay for the face painting, but it was more than worth it to see the bright smile that lit Jamie's face when the clown held the mirror up for him to see his transformation.


	9. Fanatic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: In celebration of 500 members in the Facebook group, Fanfiction Fanatics... 500 words including the word “fanatic.”

The Doctor and Rose had taken a three year old Jamie to meet Roald Dahl in 1965. The toddler was beside himself at being face to face with his favourite author. At this point, the man had just completed Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, so the Doctor had arranged to get Jamie a brand new copy, signed by the famous author.

 

When they had finished with their meeting, the little family decided to go for a walk, but with the young Time Lord so distracted with his new book, he had wandered away from his parents. None of them had noticed for some time, so when Jamie finally started to panic and sent a telepathic plea to his parents, it would take some time for them to get back to him.

 

“Wha?” gasped a tall man in a black leather jacket and dark jeans. He knelt down in front of Jamie and looked at him confusedly. “Who are you?” he asked.

 

“Jamie,” the freckle-faced toddler replied shyly. “My mum and dad know where I am, so don't even think about trying to kidnap me or anything!”

 

The man in front of him chuckled at the youngster's bravery, then asked, “Who are your parents? I can tell you're a Time Lord, but there shouldn't be any more Time Lords.”

 

“My daddy is the Doctor,” Jamie said proudly and stood a little taller. He knew that his father was famous enough for his name to mean something. “We came to meet Roald Dahl. I'm a fanatic about his books and daddy got me a brand new one with Mr. Dahl's signature inside,” he began to babble.

 

The man in front of Jamie was looking at the toddler in awe. “How...? Who's your mum?” the man asked urgently.

 

“Rose Tyler. Hey, can I feel you?” Jamie asked suddenly and put a hand to his head.

 

“Yeah. Yeah, you can,” the man told him, his eyes a little glassy.

 

“Why is that? I can usually only feel mummy and daddy,” Jamie wondered.

 

“I'm the Doctor,” he replied and took Jamie's hand in his. “Let's go find your mum and dad, alright?”

 

“Mummy told me that daddy used to look different. Are you really my daddy?” Jamie asked him, but allowed him to lead him in the direction where he felt his parents approaching.

 

“Yes, Jamie, I really am. In fact, if we aren't careful, you might just bump into your mum a bit too early,” the Doctor replied with a smirk.

 

“Jamie!” Rose's voice called through the crowd.

 

“I'm here, mummy!” Jamie shouted back to her.

 

“Oh, there you are, sweetheart! We were so worried,” Rose told him as she wrapped the little boy in her arms and lifted him off the ground to thank the adult that had been watching over her son to find herself face to face with a very familiar set of ice blue eyes. “Doctor!” she gasped. 


	10. Fanatic - part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It has been demanded that I continue the story of this little meeting. So, while I kept things to the 500 word goal in the last story, this is just to finish it off.

“Imagine my surprise, when I heard the telepathic cry of a young Time Lord while waiting for my companion while she's off shopping,” the past Doctor responded to the shocked blonde woman in front of him.

“Well, Jamie does seem to have inherited his mother's propensity for wandering off from time to time,” commented the pinstriped, future incarnation of the Doctor as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“Oi!” Rose cried indignantly and slapped his chest with the back of her hand. Both Doctors chuckled at that and Jamie looked between them.

“Is he really you, daddy?” Jamie asked.

“Yup! That is what I looked like when I first met your mother,” he replied and ruffled his son's hair.

“Aren't we causing a paradox by letting him know about me?” the toddler wondered.

“Bright lad,” the past Doctor praised. “It would be except that, as a Time Lord, when I find out information that would damage the timelines, I can hide the memory from myself until it's safe. Pretty boy over here will remember my part in this once I'm gone,” he told his future son.

“Oh, ok. Can I have some chocolate now, mummy?” the little boy asked politely.

“Yes, love. Just let me say goodbye to this Doctor, alright?” she replied and passed him into his father's arms. Rose wrapped the past Doctor in her arms and he returned the embrace with a crushing hug. She could feel him trembling. He was most likely overcome with emotion at the thought of them being married and having children together. “It'll be alright, love. And you don't have to be alone anymore,” she told him reassuringly.

Clearly feeling rather bold, he cupped her face in his hands and gave her a lingering kiss. She smiled at him sweetly when their lips separated and he flashed her his manic grin. 

“Say hello to Jack for me,” she told him with a wink.

“Uncle Jack's here?!” Jamie asked excitedly.

“Nope. They haven't met him yet, but they will very soon,” the future Doctor replied.

“Take care of your mum, Jamie. She is very precious,” the past Doctor advised the little boy.

“I know. Mummy's brilliant! And she always gives me the corner piece on the cake!” he responded happily and waved at the younger version of his dad.

The small family walked away then, the toddler sitting perched on his father's shoulders as Rose handed him a bar of chocolate. He smiled to himself and decided that it was time to go find his own Rose and take her somewhere special, maybe show her the frozen waves of Women Wept.


	11. Halloween

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I've decided that this chapter will be a peek into the future. It will give away a LITTLE bit of my plans, but not too much I don't think.

“My name is Princess Aurora!” the little girl protested with a stomp of her foot.

“Alright, sweetie, today your name is Aurora,” River conceded as she finished pinning the little gold crown into her daughter's hair. “Tomorrow, do I get MY little girl back?”

“Yes,” she replied haughtily, her head held high as if she were a real princess.

“Good. Now, daddy is in the console room where we're meeting up with everyone else,” River informed her and she ran out the door, her pink glitter converse squeaking on the floor as she turned the corner. Princess indeed.

“There's my little princess!” James shouted as his daughter leapt into his arms and he spun her around happily.

“My name is Aurora, daddy,” she told him seriously.

“Of course it is. I knew that right away when I saw your lovely, pink dress,” he replied and set her down to hit the last few buttons that would land their young TARDIS beside his parents' ship.

Outside, was New York City, where River's parents were living now and James' parents had picked up Jack and Donna for the trip as well. There was a knock on the door and the resident princess ran to answer it.

“Uncle Jack!” she squealed happily and jumped outside to greet everyone else.

James smiled fondly after her as River entered the console room, carrying their daughter's jacket in case it got colder and a bigger-on-the-inside bag for her to go trick-or-treating. “She's growing up so fast,” he sighed.

“I imagine your parents felt the same way about you. Especially when you left their TARDIS to stay with Jack and then ran off to university,” River told him.

“I know. I'm just not ready for her to be looking into the vortex any time soon,” he told her.

“And we never will be, but you know that she'll be safer once her time sense is strengthened and she can regenerate,” she replied.

“Yeah. Let's just enjoy our little princess for a while longer. I think she needs to gorge herself on candy for tonight,” he said with a wink and took his wife's hand to follow their daughter on their visit with their family.


	12. Children?

James and River spent a few months honeymooning before he returned her to Stormcage. They were currently wandering the streets of London, but during the Blitz. It was a bit dangerous, but he could feel something happening in the timelines and decided that they should stick around for a bit. He smiled when he caught a glimpse of his mother walking toward them.

 

"Mum! What are you doing here?" James called to her.

 

Rose looked at him confusedly. "I'm sorry, I think you have me confused with someone else," she told him.

 

"Oh, shit," he grumbled when he saw his father, wearing a black leather jacket storming over.

 

"Who the hell are you two?! There are no more Time Lords. Where the hell did you come from?" the Doctor shouted accusingly.

 

"I'm sorry, dad, we're a little out of order," James told him, defensively holding his hands up and standing in front of his wife.

 

"Dad?" the Doctor choked, his face turning white in shock.

 

"What? Wait a second, you called me..." Rose began.

 

"I'm sorry. I should have known when we showed up during the Blitz that we might run into you two. Guess I've been a bit lazy during our honeymoon on watching for stuff like that," James told them.

 

"You..." the Doctor tried to speak, but couldn't seem to form a single cohesive thought at the revelations before him.

 

"You'll have to erase mum's memory of this when you get back to the TARDIS," James said with a nod toward Rose.

 

"Mum?!" the Doctor gasped, his eyes wide in disbelief.

 

"What do you mean, erase my memory?" Rose asked fearfully.

 

The Doctor was still gaping, so River explained, "Sometimes, time travellers meet people before they are supposed to. On rare occasions, everyone can remember, because they did remember and that's the way the timelines were supposed to be, but many times, that future knowledge would be dangerous. Neither of you knew about either of us from this point in your lives, so you'll both have to forget this meeting ever happened."

 

"Don't worry, mum. It doesn't hurt and you can trust him in your mind," James assured Rose.

 

"What's your name?" Rose asked, her eyes looking a bit glassy.

 

"Spoilers. Bit too many of them already today. Now, you'd best get back to the TARDIS and go rescue Uncle Jack from that bomb," James urged them.

 

"Right, time to go, best leave the smallest gap possible in my memories or I'm likely to question it," the Doctor decided, trying to tamp down on the giddy feelings that threatened to overtake him completely.

 

"I've heard all about it, best go show her your moves, dad," James told him with a wink.

 

They went their separate ways and James continued to walk River down the empty street. They were both lost in their thoughts for several long minutes.

 

"I'm glad that we were able to keep the memories of all of our out of order moments," River said, breaking the silence.

 

"As far as we know. There could be countless times where we've had to do the very same," James replied.

 

A young woman ran over to them, panting slightly, "Mum, dad, I'm so glad you're here!"

 

Both of them looked at each other with wide eyes. They turned back to look at the girl in shock. She looked very much like a mixture of the two of them. Her blonde, curly hair dishevelled, she had her father's freckles and her mother's eyes. She was wearing blue jeans, certainly not in keeping with the time they were in, and pink trainers.

 

"Oh bugger, I've done it again, haven't I?" she realized.

 

"I think perhaps you have. We're on our honeymoon just now," James informed her, feeling her shock through the obvious link between them. River gasped when she realized that she could feel it too, only ever having felt her husband that way, and even that was new to her.

 

"Right. Long way to go then. You know what you'll have to do, dad," she told them, backing away nervously before turning to run back toward whatever catastrophe she had been hoping to get their help with.

 

"Should we go help her?" River questioned.

 

James felt out the timelines around them and decided easily. "No, she's got help. We'd best get back to our TARDIS before we run into ourselves that just remembered this," he laughed, feeling an echo of himself nearby.

 

"Life with you isn't going to be boring," River chuckled.

 

"Certainly not. And for you, it's just beginning, love," he said and gave her a sweet kiss before turning them back toward their time ship.

 


End file.
